Shelbyville Lady Golden Bears Basketball

By Jeff Brown
Sports editor

Published: Saturday, January 21, 2012 8:04 AM US/eastern




Chelsey Skipton hit four free throws in the final 27 seconds then blocked a potential game-tying three-pointer to get Shelbyville a 45-42 victory over Whiteland.

The win broke a two-game losing streak for the Lady Golden Bears and kept the goal of finishing the season with a .500 record still alive.

“This is a huge win,” said Shelbyville coach Amanda Norris. “I think we got them ready all week by telling them they were going to lose by 12. It’s hard as coaches to do that because we want to pump the team up, but telling them they can beat somebody wasn’t working for us. So I’m extremely pleased with how they responded and maybe a little bit of mind games will continue to pay off in the future.”

The Lady Golden Bears (7-9) started the game on a mission to prove to Whiteland it was the better team. A Riley Achenbach 3-pointer opened the scoring and back-to-back baskets by Skipton made it 7-0. With Skipton adding two more baskets, Shelbyville led 17-12 at the end of the first quarter.

That irked first-year Whiteland coach Scott Larrabee.

“We were not ready to play,” said Larrabee. “We didn’t lose the game on that last possession. We lost the game in the first quarter.”

Larrabee is the son of former Shelbyville boys’ and girls’ basketball coach, as well as athletic director, Harry Larrabee. This was Scott Larrabee’s first visit to Garrett Gymnasium since he was an assistant coach to his father with the Golden Bears several years ago.

Neither of the Larrabees left happy, as Harry Larrabee serves Scott as an assistant coach. And even though he was happy to see the Lady Golden Bears get a win, it came at the expense of the Lady Warriors they’ve led to a 5-12 record this season.

Shelbyville showed patience in the first half and produced one of its better shooting efforts at 50 percent (10 of 20). Meanwhile Whiteland was firing at every opportunity — and rarely hitting. The Lady Warriors finished the first half just 4-of-23 from the field, including 1-of-13 from the 3-point arc, and trailed 26-19.

That didn’t stop Whiteland from shooting in the second half.

Chelsea Perry hit a 3-pointer to open the second-half scoring, and a steal and layin by Kaitlyn Phillips cut the Shelbyville lead to two. And when Perry banked in a 3-pointer from the top of the key, Whiteland had its first lead of the game.

Rather than sulking, Shelbyville answered back just 20 seconds later when Chelsee Simerly scored in the low post to put her team back ahead.

Whiteland would repeat the lead-change scenario twice more — once each in the third and fourth quarters. And both times Shelbyville quickly reversed the lead back.

“I thought there were some times where we did a poor job of taking care of the ball and making poor decisions,” said Norris. “I wsa very pleased with the way we responded. We’ve never been a team that turns the ball over on the offensive end and then goes and gets a stop on the defensive end.”

Shelbyville took the lead for good when Skipton hit a 15-foot jumper from the wing to make it 41-39.

Skipton appeared to ice the game when she connected on a pair of free throws in the one-and-bonus situation and 27 seconds left on the clock.

Perry hit a long 3-pointer with 10 seconds left to give Whiteland one more chance.

Skipton pushed the lead back to three with two more free throws with eight seconds to go.

Perry tried to get off one more 3 in the final seconds but Skipton was there to block it.

Phillips led Whiteland with 12 points. Perry had 11 and seven rebounds. Michaela Harris scored nine points and grabbed eight rebounds for Whiteland, who shot 25 percent from the field and was 5-of-27 from the 3-point line.

Skipton led Shelbyville with a double-double. The junior guard scored 16 points and pulled down 12 rebounds. Achenbach finished with 14 points.

“These kids are very determined to win,” said Norris. “Some people have said they’re done for the season and ready to give up. That’s not the truth. These kids are fighters ... they’re winners. And we’re trying to prove it by reaching our goal. Our number one goal this season is to reach .500, or be better than .500. It’s a small stepping stone, but it’s something these seniors have never accomplished. Our goal is to get them there ... to send them out on a high note.”

Shelbyville will try to get one win closer to .500 today at noon against Delta (11-4, 1-4 HHC). It is Senior Day. There will not be a junior varsity game.